Northern Ireland

A barrister who claimed legal aid fees for an "obviously impossible" amount of work — in some cases for more than 24 hours' work per day — has been fined £50,000 and suspended from practice for two months. The Bar of Northern Ireland's disciplinary appeal committee has determined t

Richard Gray, partner and head of corporate at Belfast-based Carson McDowell, welcomes new clarity on creditor duty. The UK Supreme Court considered the existence, content, and engagement of ‘creditor duty’ for the first time ever in the matter of BTI 2014 LLC (Appellant) v Sequana SA an

Belfast-based Cleaver Fulton Rankin has published its latest responsible business report, setting out its work over the past year including the launch of a new ESG Hub. The firm's four areas of focus are the environment, clients, people and community, and its responsible business strategy is also al

Seven lawyers have been elected to the committee of the In-House Lawyers' Group Northern Ireland (IHLGNI) for 2022/23 following its AGM yesterday. The new committee is made up of Ciarán Fegan of Graham Group; Sean Grego of Citibank; Anne MacRandal of Autism Initiatives Group; Julie-Ann McCaff

Les Allamby, former chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), has joined JUSTICE as a council member. The UK-wide charity appointed a number of new board and council members following its 65th AGM on Wednesday.

Northern Ireland's new three-year modern slavery and human trafficking strategy has gone out to consultation. The 12-week public consultation seeks views and comments from individuals and organisations across all sectors to ensure that the resulting strategy is as informed, comprehensive and effecti

Belfast lawyer Claire Edgar has delivered a talk on domestic abuse to lawyers at the Jersey International Family Law Conference 2022. Ms Edgar, family law partner at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors, spoke on domestic abuse in the context of divorce and and ancillary relief proceedings to legal pro

Northern Ireland firm Wilson Nesbitt has announced seven promotions following growth across its real estate and construction, banking and financials services, and individual and family life sectors. Leo Morrison has been promoted to senior associate. Working in the criminal defence team, he has exte

UK law firm Shoosmiths, which has an office in Belfast, is to begin imposing a £200 “levy” on lawyers who choose to travel for business by plane. The policy's aim is to encourage staff to reduce their carbon footprint in accordance with the firm's goal of achieving net zero emissio

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred four suspected miscarriages of justice to the Northern Ireland courts in the past year, according to its latest annual report. Established 25 years ago, the CCRC is the independent body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice

KRW LAW LLP has announced it will launch proceedings in Northern Ireland's High Court on behalf of a man who alleges he was sexually abused as a child by the late Lord Mountbatten. The firm is acting on behalf of Arthur Smyth, who alleges that he was sexually abused in the late 1970s during his stay

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has determined that the appropriate sentence for a violent repeat rapist was 18 years, with an additional five-year extended custodial sentence. In reaching this decision, the court was conscious of the violence of the attack, the appellant’s attempts t

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has helped to raise £18,000 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI, the only charity in Northern Ireland dedicated to blood cancer research. The money was raised through a series of events held throughout the year involving members of the legal profession.

Legislation reforming the committal process has been commenced in Northern Ireland. Preliminary investigations and mixed committals are abolished for all new cases brought forward from today, removing the need to give oral evidence at committal hearings in magistrates’ courts.

The Bar of Northern Ireland's football team has made a triumphant return from Newcastle upon Tyne after winning a challenge match against the North Eastern Circuit. Writing on LinkedIn, the Bar said: "A great match saw a final result of 6:2 for our team who proudly held on to their decade long unbea